The next stimulus package—expected to infuse trillions of dollars into the U.S. economy—must include significant and targeted funding for federal, state and local technology upgrades, according to a group of federal IT-focused advocacy groups.
As Americans receive checks from the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act, Congress is already considering another round of stimulus spending to ease the pain of strict social distancing measures. To be truly effective, the funding must also include support for the underlying IT systems used to distribute emergency aid and ensure government operations continue unabated, according to a letter sent Wednesday to House and Senate leadership.
While the last stimulus bill included some funding for government operations, the letter—signed by the Information Technology Industry Council, the Alliance for Digital Innovation, CompTIA, the Center for Procurement Advocacy, the Internet Association and the Cybersecurity Coalition—said that support was far from enough.
“Congress has already made it clear that improving our digital infrastructure is a critical priority for America, and we urge you to ensure funding of the appropriate size and scope to address these obvious needs is included in any subsequent relief package,” the group wrote. “This includes IT investments to support telework and telemedicine, dramatic improvements [to] citizen-facing services such as loan programs, state unemployment application processing and call centers, and to ensure that agencies at the federal, state, and local level have modern technology capabilities and infrastructure that can scale to address exigent circumstances.”
The letter cites outdated IT systems at every level of government hindering the disbursement of aid and making it difficult for various bodies to coordinate their response. The crisis has also highlighted ..
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